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ACWA Welcomes You
The ACWA Board of Directors, its officers and members would like to welcome you to the online home of the American Chuck Wagon Association, a 501.c.3 organization.
About Our Association
Get To Know Us
The American Chuck Wagon Association started out as a small group of Old West enthusiasts and has expanded to world wide association preserving the American past through competitions, demonstrations, charity and school events and other venues.
Our work is funded by sponsorships (see the power point presentation shown below-right); tax-free donations, honorariums and memorials
(We are a 501.c.3 organization);
cookbook, note card, t-shirt & cap sales in our General Store (go shopping), as well as membership dues.
For donations, honorariums and memorials, you may send a check to:
ACWA, 1723 East Tate Street, Brownfield, TX 79316 or call Nancy Sparks at (806)215-7851 with credit card information.
For Honorariums and Memorials, please include the name of the person remembered/honored, and address for a thank you card.
Youth & the ACWA
Our youth are our future and the ACWA supports activities directly involving them. We encourage producers to offer youth
competition at their cook offs whenever possible. Many of our cooking crews include young people at the cook offs.
The Association also periodically honors an outstanding young cook with the Rookie of the Year award.
In addition, the ACWA offers scholarships (read more) to selected individuals each
year. If interested, download an application here.
Scholarship recipients for the upcoming school year are Caleb Swanson from Canton, SD, and Chelsea Carter from
Prairie Hill, TX.
One of our recipients recently sent an update you may read here.
Another way to involve and educate our youth is with demonstrations. At one cook off, invitations were given to area schools to come on Friday.
There were busloads coming and going a good portion of the day. The students were wonderful and the three host wagons enjoyed sharing their camps
and telling a little about the history of the chuck wagon and the trail drives.
General Store
Want to take home some of that authentic, Old West taste and style? Now you can with ACWA Cookbooks, beautiful note cards and caps!
Chuck Wagon Catering
Many of our members offer catering services. Check out the link above to contact one of them about bringing some of the finest chuck wagon cooking to your next event.
ACWA News & Events
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September, 2016, President's Message
First I would like to say sorry for being a little late with this month's message. I have been a little tied up the past few days due to a family member who was injured in a fall.
This month I would like to explain a little bit about ACWA's involvement in various areas/activities to meet the association's mission statement. Hopefully this overview will give everyone a better understanding of the association AND what your dues and contributions go to support!
ACWA Present and Future....
As with most history groups/organizations, we must rely on grass roots organizations to keep traditions alive!
ACWA is doing this every year through:
• Educational Opportunities
• Chuck Wagon Events
• Youth Cook Offs
• Youth Scholarships
• Wounded Warriors/Veterans Activities
Educational Opportunities...
• Authentic chuck wagons, cooking methods/vessels and clothing
• Opportunities to get up close and personal with the wagon owners and cooking teams
• Youth educational tours
Chuck Wagon Events...
• Opportunities to continue the comradery of Chuck Wagon owners
• Participation in events to assist local communities in funding local projects
• Educational moments with a diverse audiences of all ages
Youth Activities.....
• Opportunities for youth to cook on an authentic Chuck Wagon
• Funding given to local youth cook offs ? averaging five cook-offs a year
• Youth scholarships---two $1000 scholarships
Wounded Warrior/Veteran Activities....
• Partnering with Cowboys for Heroes
• Provide meals to veterans and their families
• Many members' wagons participating at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas
• Many members' wagons participating at Wagons for Warriors in Lebanon, Missouri
Funding opportunities...
To keep this tradition alive, it is hard to measure the benefit; however, if we do not get the younger generation motivated and involved this tradition will not survive! Remember contributions are tax deductible and used for:
• Individual donations (i.e. memorials/honarium)
• Sponsorship of the 2017 ACWA Championship Cook Off/Individual Wagon Winners
• Youth Educational Demonstrations
• Youth Scholarships
• Youth Cook Offs
As ACWA grows and to better assist the members we are looking to form a Mid America Chapter representing the States in the middle portion of the country. With the addition of this chapter every area except the Northeast would be represented by the Southeast, Mid America, Southwest or Northwest chapters. Each chapter will elect a president and a vice president to participate in the monthly Board of Director's conference call. Each chapter gives a report of what is going on; is a local contact for members and is responsible for bringing discussion items to the board.
Hopefully everyone is submitting names to the Awards Committee for the various awards ACWA gives each year at the annual meeting. Looking forward to seeing many of you at the annual meeting to be held November 5 at the Express Clydesdales Barn in Yukon, Oklahoma. More details on the ACWA website.
If you are interested in the trail drive era along with the mystique of the chuck wagon please check out our website! If you want to become a member of this fine organization, simply click on the member tab, fill out an application and join us!
"In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.? - Nikos Kazantzakis
Until next time, happy trails!
Ronnie Sexton,
2016 President - The 2016 Annual Meeting is scheduled for November 5 at the Express Clydesdales Barn in Yukon, OK, just outside of Oklahoma City. Details to follow.
A Little History
In 1996 at a chuck wagon competition in Amarillo, Texas, a small group of Old West enthusiasts and wagon masters talked about an
association. The mission would be to preserve the heritage of the chuck wagon and its use in the short, but significant, era of the cattle
drives. In 1997, in Bryson, Texas, by-laws and articles of operationwere adopted and the American Chuck Wagon Association was off and
running. Today there are members in 31 states, Canada, Germany and France.
In 2016, the original mission statement was revised and Sanctioning was approved. The revised mission statement reads as follows:
The mission statement of the American Chuck Wagon Association is to preserve the history of the
Chuck Wagon Era by providing educational opportunities and events to diverse audiences of all ages
while continuing to provide youth scholarships and support for wounded warriors.
Sanctioning information and forms can be found here.
Check out the Chuck Wagon Food Safety brochure here.
You can find the schedule and ACWA Championship qualified wagons here.
A big THANK YOU to Sheryl and Rex Wailes for their great hospitality at the Rendezvous. Around 40 people attended throughout the weekend. A good time was had by all.
Click on the dots to see more detail.
Members participate in Cook off competitions, demonstrations, catering, charity events, school visits and many other activities to fulfill that original mission and even surpass the dreams of those organizers. Thank you for visiting our site and we hope you will visit one or more of our chuck wagon events.